Memories
by BitterSweetBee
Summary: After a very brutal death, Kenny is left with very few memories of his life before. Kelly -Rainforest Schmainforest- helps him restore his mind to what it used to be and along the way they make a horrifying discovery.
1. Chapter 1

_The rusty metallic taste was still in his mouth and he was cold, very cold. Every once in a while his lungs felt like they were on fire before everything went numb once again. His body was stiff and he almost felt like he was floating. Every once in a while he felt something slimy brush across his skin. It was usually right before his lungs began to burn once again. He wondered where he was, consumed in total darkness._

_He could feel himself fading away. This was the longest he had felt like this he was certain. He was forgetting, forgetting everything. He couldn't even remember his own name. He couldn't remember anything. And he mourned for his lost memories, the things that had been important, that were still important. But there was one at the top of his mind. A face, a face that he couldn't quite make out in his mind. Every time he began to place it, it would fade away into oblivion once again. He knew it meant a lot to him._

_It meant everything to him._

A young woman, scantily clad in a sparkely red dress and heels, emerged from a taxi before it came to a full stop, ran up the steps of Hells Pass Hospital and up to the front desk. She began fighting with the nurse there when she refused to let her see a patient, claiming that the only visitors allowed were family.

"Are you Kelly?" an unkept woman with dirty red hair asked her as she walked into the room.

Kelly shocked by the question only nodded her head.

"I'm Kenny's mother. Come with me," she said and began walking away. Kelly ran to catch up with her. They walked quietly through the hospital to the room that Kenny was being kept in. Kelly put a hand to her mouth to keep herself from crying out when she saw him. She went quickly to the chair at his bedside and took his hand in hers and brought it to her face as the first tears began to fall down her cheeks.

He looked more terrible than she had ever seen him. He was so very thin that his bones jutted out underneath his skin. The skin around his eyes was blue, green and black and looked hollow. He had black and green patches all over the parts of his body that were visible and his lips were blue. He looked so frail, like if the wind blew he would just blow away. She couldn't stand it.

"You and Kenny are very close, aren't you," Carol asked from the doorway. Kelly lifted her head but didn't look over. Instead she leaned forward to place her hand and the sick boys cheek.

"I love him," she stated simply, honestly. They were words she had never told the boy herself. Words she wish she had spoken to him. "How do you know about us?" she asked, finally looking over at Carol. As far as she knew Kenny didn't tell his family about them, often keeping it secret when he disapeared for days on end in order to visit her.

"Kenny's friends told me about you. You're welcome to stay at my house for as long as you are here." Kelly nodded her thanks. "I'll leave you two alone now," Carol stated before leaving.

_"Hey babe, what's wrong?" Kenny asked brushing Kelly's hair behind her ear. Kelly snuggled closer to Kenny in his lap and leaned her forehead against his neck. For a minute there was silence and the only thing heard was the audio from the movie they were watching, the light from the tv casting a warm glow over the dark room._

_"What if one day you don't come back?" Kelly finally said._

_"Don't worry, you know I'm always going to come see you whenever your parents are out of town."_

_Kelly shook her head, "That's not what I mean."_

_Kenny's face fell. He rested his head on hers._

_"I don't know."_

**I never was into South Park fangirlism until I encountered azngirlLH on deviantart. This fanfic**** was inspired by her deviations on Entirely Unmemorable.**


	2. Chapter 2

It had been the middle of June when Kyle called her. Kenny had left for home five days previously and she had been angry when he didn't call her when he said he would. She was to proud to call him and ask what was up. Now she wished she had. Then maybe all this wouldn't of happened.

"Hello?"

"Hi Kelly?"

"Yes?"

"This is Kyle Broflovski...Kenny's friend. Uh... is he still there?"

Kelly's brow furrowed in confusion, "No, he's at home."

"No he isn't."

"What?"

"He isn't here."

"... Why not?"

"That's what we're trying to find out."

Silence.

"Did Kenny mention anything before he left? Say he was going anywhere? Going to meet up with anyone...?"

"He didn't say anything," Kelly replied as she began to feel the true weight of the situation, "Is he in trouble?"

"Don't worry about it," Kyle said, "It's probably nothing."

It wasn't nothing.

For several months he remained missing. At one point Kelly was sure he was gone for good and she couldn't stand it. She poured all of her energy into her dancing. As long as she was moving, on the go, everything that had happened the last few months couldn't catch her. She didn't need to hurt anymore. But like everyday, eventually the studio had to close, and Mrs. Mendoza would usher her home telling her that she worked herself to hard. Then she would have nothing to hold onto. All the memories and regrets would flood back into her mind and she would remember that she was broken.

Kenny had been her whole life the last nine years. It had been nice having someone who wanted to be around when her parents were to busy for her, what with all the business trips they had because of work. She had never really had many friends. Most people at her elementary school had labeled her as weird because of her bad nose picking habit. Even when she stopped at the age of eleven the label stuck with her because of her ability to dress like an old woman. She had never really been as into tank tops and short skirts as all the other girls had been. Finally in high school, freshmen year, she became more comfortable with her body and began to dress normally, but by then she was socially awkward and just didn't know how to talk to anyone. So remained quiet and reserved, saving her true self for the fleeting moments she had with Kenny.

Kelly had been at a regionals waiting for her turn to preform when Kyle called her again.

"They found him."

Mrs. Mendoza had called after her as she ran down the hallway and out the door, still wearing her costume meant for her performance, only having stopped to grab her purse. An hour later she was on a bus that would take her to Central Colorado.

After the shock of seeing Kenny in such a state had worn off Kelly realized what a miracle it was that he was still with her. She remembered the first time she had seen him die. She couldn't understand why she had been the only one who cared. Even his friends treated his death like it was no big deal. They even seemed shocked at the idea of resurrecting him.

The second time she thought it was over. He had been crushed by her father's large flat screen TV. They had both been fourteen at the time. How he had managed not to die in front of her before then had been pure luck. She sat there crying for hours holding his bloody body in her arms. She had been absolutely terrified when he got up later, snapping his bones back into place, his wounds seeming to heal instantly, until it looked like it wasn't his blood that was covering both of them.

She had been afraid of him then. Every time she took a step back, he took a step forward until she found herself with her back against the wall. Looking back at herself now it seemed silly but she had squeezed her eyes shut like a little girl, pretending the monsters would go away. She honestly thought that his body had been possessed by a demon or something of the sort. Quite ironically they had been watching The Exorcist beforehand. But instead of hurting her, he pressed his lips against hers, sharing their first kiss. She would have pushed him away but she had been too frightened to. She had mixed feelings about the kiss. She was surprised and scared but at the same time... it felt so right.

After their lips parted her strength failed and she fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands sobbing. Kenny held her telling her everything would be okay and explaining what had just happened. At first she couldn't believe any of it. How could anyone? But after a while she learned to accept it. She still tensed up every time it happened though, even as the rest of the world went on their merry way. She would always drag him home depending on the condition he was in and lay him on the tarp she always had handy just inside her back door before dragging him inside and leaving him in the tub with a fresh set of clothes and a garbage bag for the soiled ones on the counter for when he awoke.

She remembered one time he had burned to death in front of her very eyes. He had been cooking something on her gas stove when suddenly his sleeve caught on fire. He had gone up in flames before she could even say Bob's your uncle. She sat at her seat at the table watching his ashes and the mess she had made trying to put him out, wondering how he would ever be able to come out of this one alive but alas, hours later the ashes had regenerated themselves into his body and he was fine once again. That summer she had her father replace their gas stove with an electric one.

Kenny had been in a coma for weeks and all the while she had stayed at the McCormick's house. She visited the hospital everyday and she spent most of her time there even opting to spend the night there sleeping on the small pull out bed that the chair turned into. Finally after two weeks, when the doctors finally told them that Kenny's condition was stable, Mr. and Mrs. McCormick convinced Kelly that she should go home and that they would call her if anything changed.

For two months Kelly's routine stayed the same. She went to school on weekdays and then she would take the bus down to Colorado and spend her weekends in South Park. Her parents didn't even notice her change in behaviour, being as oblivious as they were. The only thing that interfered with her pattern was a Concert for her choir that was held on a Saturday. Her friend Celeste convinced her afterwards to go home and rest instead of going down to see him for less then a day. Ironically that was the day that everything changed.

Carol called her at eleven o'clock pm on Sunday telling her that Kenny had been able to move his hand and was responding to their questions through this. Kelly was overjoyed. She took the next week off of school to spend it in South Park.

When she finally arrived at the hospital Kenny wouldn't respond to anything. The Nurse assured her that he was just asleep. She was upset that he had to be unconscious right when she arrived. Hadn't he had enough sleep for one lifetime? But finally when Kenny did awake she got more than she even hoped for.

Kelly had rested her head in her arms at the side of the hospital bed and was practically out cold when she heard someone groaning. She lifted her head up and what she saw made her heart sing. Kenny's eyes were slowly opening.

"Nurse!" Kelly called as Kenny's eyes slowly focused on the ceiling. She took his face in her hands and smiled down at him. She was so happy when Kenny looked at her. She placed multiple kisses on his lips, his cheeks, his nose and his forehead. Her happiness was short lived though as Kenny looked up at her in confusion.

"Who are you?"

Kelly left the room in tears.


	3. Chapter 3

It turned out that Kenny couldn't remember anything. All of his memories... times spent with his friends, his family... his name, his experiences, his dreams... nothing.

It had taken a few minutes for Kelly to be able to pull herself together enough to go back into the room. When she did Kenny was in hysterics. He was screaming and fighting with the nurses. He kept asking where he was and what was going on. Finally Kelly went up to him with practiced calm. One of the nurses backed away from Kenny's side so she could approach.

"Hey Kenny, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, calm down," she said softly, gently gripping his flailing arms and taking his hands in her own. She sat down on the side of the bed, "Everything's going to be okay," she said brushing the hair out of his eyes.

"What's going on? Is that my name?" he asked looking up at her like a child.

Kelly blinked a few times, "Kenny?"

"Is that my name?" His voice was very hoarse from months of not using it.

Kelly had to force back a sob but that didn't stop the tears from pouring down her cheeks. She nodded.

"What's happening to me?"

Kelly closed her eyes and cleared her throat before continuing, "You were in an accident."

"What happened?"

"You drove your car off a bridge. You were missing for a very long time."

"How long?"

"Nine and a half months."

"Where was I?"

"You were in your car."

Kenny swallowed "I know but where was I after that?"

"You were brought here."

"Brought here?"

Kelly nodded.

"I thought you said I was missing."

"You were."

"Where was I all that time?"

"In your car."

Kenny's voice rose shocking Kelly, "Stop fucking with me!" he said, his voice breaking on the last word. He ripped his hands away and weakly pushed her hand away from his face, "I couldn't of been in my fucking car the whole god damn time!"

This was a moment Kelly had not anticipated. Of all the things to forget, why this? She swallowed before taking Kenny's chin in her hand, gently making him look at her. "Kenny, this is going to be hard to hear but there's no other way to tell you." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, "You drove your car off a bridge and into a lake. You drowned there. You were dead for nine and a half months and in a coma for two after you were found. This isn't the first time you have died either but it is the longest-" she could see Kenny becoming visibly upset at what she was saying, "- But you don't need to worry because you are fine now-"

Kenny pushed her arm away and began tearing all the tubes and needles he was hooked on off. She attempted to stop him but he smacked her hand away. Before the nurses could come to her aid Kenny had already swung his legs off the side of the bed.

Along with his memories his strength had gone too. Kenny couldn't even get up without crumpling to the floor in a pathetic heap. When his head came in contact with the floor they could hear his skull split open with a sickening crack. Kelly dropped to her knees and finally let herself sob as the nurses hoisted Kenny back onto the bed and pressed a towel on the gash to keep the blood from getting on the sheets.

At least when he woke up he would believe her.


	4. Chapter 4

It was pouring rain outside. The ledge over the door didn't provide much protection as the howling wind was sending the rain in every direction. Water dripped from his dirty blond hair and down his face. He was a mess and he was soaked. But all that Kelly could concentrate on were his piercing blue eyes.

"Hey," he said breaking her out of her trance.

"Come in," she said opening the door wide and closing it behind him. She noticed he was shivering, "Take off your shoes. I'll get some of my Dad's clothes for you, come on."

He kicked off his sneakers and followed her down the hallway, up the stairs and to the second door in the right.

"Wait here," she said opening the door of the washroom and turning on the light. She quickly walked to her fathers room. Once out of sight she clutched her chest with one hand and brought the other to her mouth. She took a breath and breathed out shakily. She did this a few more times until she got a hold of herself.

She began looking through the drawer where her father kept his night clothes and pulled out a pair of sweat pants with an adjustable waist band and an old white t-shirt before returning to the washroom.

"Here change into these but you should take a shower first, to warm yourself up," she spoke quickly, the whole while she kept her eyes cast on anything but him, "There's towels in the cabinet. Bring your clothes down to me after and I'll throw them in the wash so they don't smell when they dry. I'll be in the kitchen, it's right near the front entrance," she finally chanced a look at him.

He caught her eyes, "Thank you," he said, a little awkwardly.

She nodded slightly before walking out.

For ten minutes she anxiously waited in the kitchen, pacing and wringing her fingers together. She wasn't sure how she should feel but she did know that she felt like she was going to be sick. Finally she decided to make some tea. She didn't care for any at the time but at least it would give her something to do. Finally he came back down with his wet clothes and towel in hand.

"Sorry I'm causing so much trouble," he said holding them out to her.

"No really, it's fine," she said smiling at him though her eyes still remained misty. She noticed the mud on his clothes, "Why are they so dirty?"

"I got hit by a car. The asshole just left me there."

"Ah, that makes sense."

When she came back up he was looking out the kitchen window lost in thought. He turned when he heard her foot steps. She stopped in the doorway and placed her hand on the door handle, feeling an extreme awkwardness to have both her arms hanging at her sides at the moment. It was silent for a few moments.

"It's been a while," he said.

She nodded slowly, "Six months... How have you been?"

"Alright," he answered delicately, "What about you?"

She nodded, "Me too. I'm fine I mean."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

Silence.

"Your mother said your recovery is going well," she said in attempt to start a conversation. He did look better too. The muscle was beginning to build back onto his arms and his complection wasn't so pale as the last time she had seen him.

He looked off to the side, "Not half as well as we hoped."

"You still can't remember anything can you?" Kelly asked after a moment.

He blew a lock of hair out of his eyes, "Nope," He breathed in heavily through his nose and sighed. "It's funny, you know? I can remember that I hate string beans, love Doritos, and like to eat the crust off my sandwich first but I can't remember my first day of school or even my best friends, my mother, my family, my first love..." he looked up at her with such intensity that her breath caught in her throat.

The air in the room grew more tense before the tea kettle began to whistle. Both of them jumped in surprise before Kelly went to turn the rimmer off.

"Would you like some tea?" She asked as she poured it into the tea pot glad to have something to do rather than look at him. She blinked rapidly trying to hold back the tears stinging in the corners of her eyes.

"Sure."

"What kind would you like?" She asked as she set the kettle back down. She opened the cupboard, "There's green tea and white tea-"

"Anything's fine," he answered.

She stood on her tip toes reaching for the top shelf. After a few moments of fumbling with the edge of a box he went over to assist her, his hand accidentally grazing hers as he did so. Her head snapped to the side and their eyes met. His face was very close to hers. She turned her head down to the box he held out to her. Orange Pekoe. She knew that was the kind he preferred.

"Thanks," she said quietly accepting the box.

She poured tea into two mugs and took honey out of the same cupboard.

"Would you like honey in your tea?" she asked squeezing a dime sized amount into hers.

"Sure."

She set both mugs down at the table and took a seat and he followed. Neither of them drank and silence fell on them once again.

"So...why are you here Kenny?"

Kenny opened his mouth like he was going to speak then scratched his nose before returning his hand to it's place on the mug.

"Mum and Dad are usually fighting. I'd never be able to leave the house if they had their way. My friends are assholes too, especially Cartman. Stan's always too stuck up in his girlfriend dumping him to give a damn about anything else. Actually Kyle's the only one who has been reasonable about everything, but I hate going to his house. His Mom is such a bitch..." he realized he was jabbering on and stopped, "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that every one's been telling me who I am and who I'm not. Sometimes they contradict themselves and it gets annoying. I just wish people would let me remember on my own. I thought the best way to jog my memory was to visit places that I have memories of instead of being cooped up in South Park all the time but..."

"It's not working is it?"

"Not in the least..." he said his face visually falling.

Kelly bit her lip, "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I have no idea," he said glancing out the window.

She got up, "Well you should at least spend the night here. It's too late to do anything now," she began walking away, "I'll get the guest room ready for you. You can figure out what you are going to do in the morning."

Once she turned the corner she sighed. Kenny never spent the night in the guest room.

**Because he usually spends the night in her room. Awww how sweet! :3 In a sad way... :(**

**No you perverts they're not doing that!**

**Thanks so much for the reviews John-SP150 (everything gets worse before it gets better) and flaellii (I know eh? If you find any decent stories you should let me know!). I really appreciate them :)  
**


	5. Chapter 5

"Anything?" she asked as the rain pounded on her umbrella.

They both stood outside an empty house.

"... Nothing."

Both of their expressions were unemotive.

"...Maybe we should go inside."

"...Yeah."

She lead him around the back and stepped onto the porch. They both closed their umbrellas and leaned them against the side of the house.

"The lock on this window is broken," she said pushing up on the one beside the door. She tried to wedge it open to no avail, "It gets stuck though."

Kenny came to her side and helped her with one hand and they managed to get it to wedge up a little, enough for Kelly to get through.

"I'll be right back," she said before crawling through. Once in she walked out of what would be the living room and into the hallway to unlock the door and let Kenny in. There were broken beer bottles everywhere and stains covered the carpet.

He looked around a little before pointing at some scorch marks on the dining room floor in question.

"The goth kids used to come here to have séances."

He followed her up the stairs and into the first room. There was a mattress in the corner of the room and a pizza box with a slice of mouldy pizza sat in the middle.

"There must have been a party last week," Kelly explained.

Kenny nodded.

The corner of her lips tugged down slightly, "Anything?"

He shook his head, "What's so significant about this place anyway?" he spoke for the first time other than to answer a question.

Her cheeks warmed slightly.

He blinked, "Oh..."

The silence that followed was awkward and long and ended when Kenny cleared his throat.

"Maybe we should try some place else?"

"Yeah"

* * *

Kelly wondered if this was how it was to be from now on, her asking questions and short syllable long answers fro him.

"Do you remember anything?"

"Nope."

She hated it.

"We had our first date here," she said. They stood in the lobby of the only movie theatre in her town, "We saw X-Men."

"What's X-Men?"

"They're mutant superheroes who wear leather instead of tights."

"Oh."

"People hate them though."

He raised an eyebrow.

"In the movie... It's a nice change since people usually love superheroes."

"Ah."

"... Do you want to see the new one? It's playing now. I'll pay." Kenny had always insisted on paying. She always thought it was silly seeing as he had so little money and her parents had opened a trust fund for her when she was only 13.

He furrowed his brow a little bit.

"It might jog your memory."

"... Alright."

It seemed like the whole theatre was full of couples. People in the back rows were making out and other girls were hiding their heads in their dates shoulders at the scarier parts of the movie. Where were all the nerds and loners? Kelly wished for some to come out of thin air to make everything less tense. Neither Kenny nor Kelly spoke during the movie. Not even a peep when they got up as the credits flashed across the screen.

As they walked to her car Kenny finally spoke, "I think I remembered something."

"Really?" Kelly's mood seemed to improve immediately.

"They thought she drowned right?"

"Yeah!"

"Kind of like me?"

"I guess so."

"They thought she drowned but she didn't."

"Yes."

"They thought she drowned to save them right?"

"Yeah?"

"It wasn't an accident..."

Kelly gave him a questioning look as she pressed a button on her keys to unlock the doors.

"... I'm not sure where I'm going with this," he finally said as they both got in.

"Does it have something to do with the you're accident?"

He didn't answer.

"Have you gone back there yet?"

He nodded, "I stopped there on the way to your place."

Kelly had been there too, once. Just to see where Kenny had been fir all those months.

"Do you want to go back?"

He was silent for a few moments before he answered, "Yeah, lets go."

* * *

**AzngirlLH updated her deviantart gallery for the first time in a while and I was inspired. I figure if the show started in 1997 they'd be 18 when Last Stand came out in 2006.**


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